"I watched the movie for the first time a few days ago and I just looked at the first cut and there is so much entertainment value — it's just flat-out fun to watch," Johnston said in an interview with The Los Angeles Times.

Johnston, who directed Jurassic Park III and The Rocketeer, acknowledged that he has some bias, but seems able to, objectively, say that Cap's first big-screen movie is "funny, it's exciting and there's great visual effects. The movie is going to be something more than people are expecting. This movie is going to surprise some people."

Expect plenty of action scenes in the new Cap movie.

First Avenger, according to Johnston, is both Cap's origin story and a very period-centric action movie, the latter being something rare when it comes to tentpole summer movies.

"It's a period superhero film but there's great action in it," he says. "You don't normally think of guys driving around in 1939 sedans in an action film but there are some great action beats in it. It's just a helluva lot of fun to watch."

Thanks for getting us all in a nerd frenzy, Joe. July 22 needs to stop stalling and get here.